Ahmed Abu Risha

Ahmed Abu Risha (1965-) was the leader of the Anbar Salvation Council from 2007 to 2013, succeeding Abdul Sattar Abu Risha and preceding Wissam al-Hardan.

Biography
Ahmed Abu Risha was born in 1965, and he was the older brother of Abdul Sattar Abu Risha. He became a member of the Awakening Councils, Sunni militias that fought against al-Qaeda in Iraq in alliance with the Iraqi government during the Iraq War, and he joined the Unity Alliance of Iraq coalition. In 2007, after his brother was killed in an IED attack, Ahmed became the new leader of the Anbar Salvation Council, and he met with President Barack Obama in 2008. Unlike many other sheikhs, he opposed the United States' withdrawal from Iraq, which he saw as America handing over the country to Iran; he opposed Iranian intervention in Iraq. Abu Risha criticized the government for not paying its militias or giving them arms, while the government accused him of supporting al-Qaeda, although he lost 26 members of his family in fighting them. His militias were a key part of the Iraqi government's forces fighting the Islamic State during their takeover of northern Iraq in 2014.